Fairfax County, Va., officials are eyeing new uses for old, nonrecyclable glass materials. The county has turned to using crushed glass for a construction project for the first time.

Fairfax County is using a pulverizing machine to break down glass that will help replace sewer pipes at an area plant. Rather than recycling glass, which has become challenging for municipalities across the country, the county is crushing the material and using it as bedding and fill to be placed around sewer pipes.

Local DVM has more information:

With recycling becoming more expensive, programs around the country have removed glass from their collections, but Fairfax County is exploring a new use for glass by using crushed glass in a construction project for the first time.

While crushing about 20 tons of glass per hour, Fairfax County's pulverizing machine breaks down glass that will help replace sewer pipes at a plant in Western Fairfax County. Since Fairfax County's recycle program has a single-stream that combines all recyclables in one bin, glass has become a problem. So, instead of recycling glass it is crushed and used as bedding and fill material to be placed around sanitizing sewer pipes.

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